Kozyrev warns Balts of 'new Yugoslavia'

IN WHAT was quickly interpreted as a sop to conservative forces in Moscow, Andrei Kozyrev, Russia's Foreign Minister, warned yesterday of a 'new Yugoslavia' erupting in the Baltic states, which would need to be brought under control by the dispatch of a 'vast number' of peace-keeping troops.

Addressing foreign ministers from 10 states of the Baltic region in Helsinki for a two-day congress, Mr Kozyrev accused Estonia and Latvia of gross violations of human rights against their sizeable ethnic Russian communities.

Since gaining independence from Moscow in 1991, the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - had increasingly turned towards 'aggressive nationalism and chauvinism', Mr Kozyrev said. The Foreign Minister called on the congress to set up a commissioner for human rights in the region forthwith, warning that if it did not, 'a new Yugoslavia-style situation could come about - necessitating the dispatch of enormous numbers of troops to keep peace in the region'.

Although Russia has frequently complained about alleged human rights violations in the Baltic states, the comparison with Yugoslavia and references to sending in troops were criticised by some delegates to the congress, who considered it inappropriate to draw parallels between the peaceful developments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the war raging in the former Yugoslavia.

Trivimi Velliste, Estonia's Foreign Minister, said that he had not been shocked by the outburst, suggesting that it had more to do with internal politics in Russia than the actual situation in the Baltic states. As a strong supporter of President Boris Yeltsin, Mr Kozyrev has long been attacked by conservative hardliners in Russia, many of whom regret the decision to allow the Baltic states to become independent in 1991. By talking tough to the Baltics, Mr Kozyrev was undoubtedly attempting to steal some of the conservatives' thunder and perhaps ease the constant calls for his resignation.

But in Latvia and Estonia his attack was likely to add to the mounting tensions over the large ethnic Russian communities in those countries (34 and 30 per cent respectively) and over the continued presence of Russian troops and military installations.

Although a high proportion of Russians living in Latvia and Estonia are not counted as citizens and do not therefore have the right to vote, laws enabling them to become citizens are being drawn up. A United Nations mission to Latvia in November concluded that there were no fundamental breaches of human rights in the country. A recent mission from the Council on Security and Co-operation in Europe to Estonia reached a similar conclusion.